LAST WEEK: The Binghamton Senators (17-10-3-3, 40 pts.) won two of three games this past week, including a 4-1 win at East Division rival Hershey on Saturday night to snap a 16-game road losing streak to the Bears. The B-Sens four points moved them into sole possession of fourth place in the tight East Division, two points back of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (20-11-1-1, 42 pts.) and five points back of Bridgeport (21-9-1-2, 45 pts.).

FRIDAY, DEC. 26 vs. SYRACUSE (3-2 W): Binghamton won its fourth straight against Syracuse on Friday night with two goals off the stick of Denis Hamel, giving the veteran winger 250 for his AHL career. The top-ranked B-Sens power play converted on three of eight chances, two of them on a 5-on-3 advantage. Ryan Shannon netted his eighth of the year for Binghamton’s opening goal. Hamel buried his first goal of the night midway through the second period to tie the game a 2. He followed with the game-winning goal in overtime, a deflection off a Matt Carkner shot to secure the B-Sens win. Carkner and fellow blueliner Mattias Karlsson collected three assists each; career-highs for both defensemen. Netminder Brian Elliott stopped 32 of 34 shots to secure his 15th win of the season.

SATURDAY, DEC. 27 @ HERSHEY (4-1 W): The B-Sens ended the Chocolate Town curse with a 4-1 victory over the Hershey Bears on Saturday night, snapping a 16-game road losing streak that dates back to the 2004-05 season. Netminder Brian Elliott turned away 43 of 44 shots to push the B-Sens to victory. Veteran winger Danny Bois netted his 50th AHL goal, 50th AHL assist and 100th AHL point in the victory. Bois buried the lone power-play tally of the night and added one assist to lead the B-Sens offense. Defenseman Derek Smith also chipped in one goal and one assist, while Drew Fata netting his fifth goal of the season. Newcomer Aaron Clarke, playing in his second AHL game, buried his first AHL marker off a feed from Jim McKenzie.

SUNDAY, DEC. 28 @ WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (6-3 L): The B-Sens held a 3-1 advantage before the Penguins rattled off five unanswered goals to hand the B-Sens a 6-3 defeat and snap their four-game winning streak. Ryan Shannon scored his second goal of the weekend to opening the scoring less than two minutes into the game. Jim McKenzie took a long pass from Greg Mauldin and netted the third short-handed goal of the season for Binghamton. Denis Hamel netted the B-Sens lone power-play goal. Jeff Glass made 33 saves in the losing effort.

THIS WEEK: The B-Sens travel up I-81 to take on the Syracuse Crunch (15-14-1-2, 33 pts.) for the third time in two weeks. Binghamton returns home for a New Year’s Eve contest against division rival Albany (11-16-3-2, 27 pts.) before hosting the Houston Aeros (16-12-1-5, 38 pts.) on Friday night.

TUESDAY, DEC. 30 @ SYRACUSE (7:00 p.m.): The Crunch snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Hamilton on Saturday night. Binghamton has won four straight against Syracuse and has points in all six contests this season (4-0-1-1). Defenseman Mattias Karlsson has nine assists against the Crunch. Netminder Brian Elliott is 4-1-1 against the Crunch this season, with a 1.92 goals-against-average and a .934 save percentage.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31 vs. ALBANY (6:05 p.m.): The B-Sens and the River Rats face off for the fourth time this season on New Year’s Eve. The B-Sens are 2-0-0-1 thus far against the River Rats, with Brian Elliott posting a 33-save shutout in their last meeting on Dec. 13, a 3-0 B-Sens victory. Rookie Zack Smith has two goals and two assists against Albany. The River Rats are 3-7-0-0 over their last 10 games and currently sit in last place of the East Division.

FRIDAY, JAN. 2 vs. HOUSTON (7:05 p.m.): The B-Sens take on the Houston Aeros, AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, for the first time in franchise history. The Aeros (16-12-1-5, 38 pts.) play in the West Division and are currently tied for third place, three points behind first-place Milwaukee (20-9-0-1, 41 pts.). Aeros netminder Barry Brust ranks third in the league with a 2.13 goals-against-average, and his .926 save percentage is tied for second amongst all goaltenders. Winger Corey Locke leads the offensive attack for Houston with 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points.